Dual-sport / naked/city motorbike enthusiasts, ideas ?

[FullMetalExoParticipant 2383]

I couple of weeks ago I started digging around motorcycles what I would consider buying one day (as a goal). I don’t want or need a car, I have a MTB of my dreams (and I love nature) and would love to have a motorcycle one day.

I live near a city(asphalt), yet have nice forest(dirt) and quarry(dirt/gravel) nearby. I would consider a motorcycle that I could enjoy on both types of roads, going to work and enjoy it daily (all but winter time).

I don’t want a super bike/heavy touring bike as it would not be practical. I have no idea of the weight/cc/power I would go for.

For the last couple of days Im salivating over BMW R nineT, as much as style is considered. But its like 1100cc

I like ducati/yamaha etc. If you have some bike suggestions/photos or experience to share, please do if you want.

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[Greg HondaParticipant 6406]

As an old guy, my tastes in bikes are from the 80’s / 90’s.

For what you describe you need I would advise against anything over 500cc because of the weight when going cross country. In my day I would have gone for an XT500 Yamaha:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=yamaha+xt500+pictures&qpvt=yamaha+xt500+pictures&qpvt=yamaha+xt500+pictures&qpvt=yamaha+xt500+pictures&FORM=IGRE

No idea what the comparison is to today’s machines.

What ever you go for. Think about the weight. Can you pick it up easily if you fall off cross country?.

Personally I think 250cc singles are light enough for off road but just have enough power to keep up on the Tarmac.

Just my 2 cents.

It's Time to get Wise

[FullMetalExoParticipant 2383]

Yeh I would probably go for 500cc somewhere, I don’t intend to climb mountains on a motorcycle or going in to dirt. And I would probably have to consider weight to be manageable by me. Thank you for suggestions!

Enjoying a forest road and asphalt is how I would like it. It’s just the amount of choice in motorcycles is overwhelming.

Yamaha XSR700
689cc
186kg
Will be my benchmark to look forward in to imho

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[Clint EastwoodParticipant 323]

Well for all round capability it’s gonna have to be the ubiquitous BMW R1200GS, in all it’s incarnations. That’s the one I’d pick, but a hardtail Harley would be the biggest ‘must have’ for warm weather and countless pristine miles of tarmac (asphalt).

Stay vigilant. They're everywhere.

[Clint EastwoodParticipant 323]

FullMetalExo wrote:

Yeh I would probably go for 500cc somewhere, I don’t intend to climb mountains on a motorcycle or going in to dirt. And I would probably have to consider weight to be manageable by me. Thank you for suggestions!

Enjoying a forest road and asphalt is how I would like it. It’s just the amount of choice in motorcycles is overwhelming.

Yamaha XSR700
689cc
186kg
Will be my benchmark to look forward in to imho

That XSR700 looks a lot like the SDR200 Yam from the 1980’s ?

Stay vigilant. They're everywhere.

[sidecarParticipant 35837]

FullMetalExo wrote:

I don’t want a super bike/heavy touring bike as it would not be practical. I have no idea of the weight/cc/power I would go for.

For your first bike you should concentrate on used, simple, and cheap. Leave the questions about displacement, design, and all that until after you’ve worked out how you’re really going to ride.

The advantage of a cheap, simple, used bike for your first ride are manyfold. Sooner rather than later you WILL lay down your bike. Wiping out your brand new $15,000 R nineT is a goddamn tragedy. And an expensive one at that. Laying down the $500 craproller you picked up off craigslist is no big deal. You probably won’t even be able to find the new scratches.

Simple, old school technology bikes are much easier and cheaper to maintain and MUCH easier to learn to maintain than new bikes. You want to start simple and add complexity. That means air cooled and carbureted. The R-nineT is a great bike, and I love boxers, but it’s WAY too complicated to learn motor-fu on. You need a first bike you can fix at the side of the road in the middle of the night in the rain with a rock.

Finally, it’s surprising the performance you can get from a light bike when you really don’t give a f~~~ about it. I’ve seen ancient $100 100cc underbone hondas get to places where $20,000 1200cc R1200’s fear to lay tread.

[Joey CusackParticipant 1044]

Find a dealer who has a used bike lot and test ride a few to see what weight/displacement bike feels right to you.

A have a 2002 BMW R1150GS and can answer questions about that model.

Check out advrider.com – lots of duel sport info there.

[Anonymous 42]

FullMetalExo wrote:

I don’t want a super bike/heavy touring bike as it would not be practical. I have no idea of the weight/cc/power I would go for.

If you never road a bike before I recommend a the dirtiest dirt bike that’s still road legal, You’re allot safer with more travel in your suspension for a beginner rider, you may need to jump a curb or road hazard someday. A dirt bike you’re less likely to go down without the necessary road experience, stay away from fast and powerful to start, earn your right of passage before you go powerful or big, otherwise you will feel allot of pain…

[FullMetalExoParticipant 2383]

Thank you all for good advice. Yeh I will start with a used bike for all the reasons mentioned and see how I like it, will resell it if I ever decide to not continue on with the idea or get something else.

Im also thinking about protection and how expensive should I go with it. Anyway thanks.

Joey Cusack wrote:

Find a dealer who has a used bike lot and test ride a few to see what weight/displacement bike feels right to you.

Outstanding, will do.

Joey Cusack wrote:

2002 BMW R1150GS

What a beast, seems like Touring bike and 250kg, 1100cc. When I do, I will start with lighter bikes and go up to see how I handle them.

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[sidecarParticipant 35837]

FullMetalExo wrote:

Im also thinking about protection and how expensive should I go with it. Anyway thanks.

Always Armor Up. That means helmet, jacket, pants, boots, gloves. You do not want to know what pavement can do to mere denim and flesh even at a residential 25 miles per hour.

And it doesn’t need to be expensive, and it doesn’t need to be any fancy name brand. So long as it says DOT on the helmet or CE on the clothes it should be sufficient. I have a few pairs of CE rated kevlar “denim” jeans that I got for $50 each on sale, which is just a little bit more than regular non-armored jeans.

I would not advise buying your riding gear online. You really need to know how it fits first hand, and thats hard to assess over a computer. You might try checking out thrift stores, too. You can sometimes find good, barely used gear that some poor chump had to give up because wifey insisted. I once found a pristine heated suit (jacket, pants, gloves, headliner, even boot insoles, with the controller and everything) in a thrift store for $20. I would have bought it but it was too small.

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